What Role Do You Choose? / April 8, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Nothing exhausts a person like inner struggle.

Competitor, envious, or villain from outside will breathe out sooner or later. Or switch to easier prey.

But the conflict within oneself won't calm down. How could it, if each side is convinced the other shouldn't exist? Here, like in "Highlander" movie, only one must remain. The struggle is the meaning.

The question is, what's your role?

You can be a victim. Suffer from lack of energy, sudden shifts to one extreme or another, and wonder: "Why is this happening to me? When will this end?".

If you're tired of endless suffering, you can become an observer. Accept the inevitability of what's happening. Settle into your chair, munch on popcorn, and watch this thrilling movie.

One day, your back will numb, and tears will well up in your eyes. The question will obscure the screen: "Why the heck am I sitting here?" You'll remember that beyond these walls, there's another world, with sunny and fresh air.

The main thing is, you feel an urge not to watch, but to make movies. The director understands the value of conflict. It weaves an interesting plot.

Also, the director knows that eventually the conflict must be resolved. Otherwise, existence stagnates.

But after a successful resolution, life rushes forward with doubled force!

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

How can I help you?
If you've long been trying to understand what is limiting you and/or your business and how to finally give important changes a push, then The Catalyst Session is designed specifically for you. Book it here.

Beware the Beast / April 7, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Video of elephant ramming car full of tourists teaches lesson.

Any encounter with the wild is a dance on the edge.

Here are people basking in the harmony, tranquility, and beauty of the world. But in the next moment, they're knocked off their feet by the clawed and venomous chaos.

That's why many folks won't set foot in the savanna. They find comfort in the city, believing there are no wild beasts there. What a naive thought!

Take a closer look: the beast isn't in the savanna or the zoo, it resides within people. Only, it doesn't roar like a lion. It lurks in the darkness, akin to a deep-sea predator.

But given the chance, it strikes immediately. Few examples:

A group of cops can't subdue a man in a frenzy.
In a fight, one passes out, the other bashes their head on asphalt.
A raging crowd burns "heretics" at the social media stake, etc.

There's someone inside you too. A barracuda, a wasp, or a wild dingo. It's useful to study your beast's habits. So you don't later fall into shock: "I didn't do this! It's like someone possessed me!"

Your beast will be with you everywhere, always. You can't fully domesticate it. But if you're vigilant, life can be quite safe. And even interesting, as you what the beast is capable of.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Why is Impermanence Good? / April 6, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

In human experience, there's nothing infinite. Sooner or later, everything calms down, exhausts, and fades away.

For many, including myself, this fact is disheartening. What we cherish today, we'll eventually have to let go of.

Possession is fleeting. At best, we're companions with someone or custodians of values for a while. Memories remain, but even they increasingly resemble dreams.

Yet the finiteness of everything is good news too.

Negative trends, events, and emotions don't fuel an eternal engine. Yes, a forest fire may turn land into desert. But it won't stop plants, animals, and insects. Life in the wilderness will revive again.

What's confusing is that worry, resentment, or pain don't vanish smoothly. Rather, it's a slowly fading sine wave. Along it, we soar up, then plummet down. It seems endless, but it's not.

Many psychotherapy and meditation methods are similar. They either help endure the fading of such a sine wave calmly or hasten to reach its end.

When you're struggling again, recall this picture. Whatever poisons your life will fade too. Fortunately, nothing is eternal.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Step Towards the Exit / April 5, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

In the Theory of Constraints, the foundation lies in five guiding steps.

First, you need to identify the system's constraint. Otherwise, you'll be searching for keys not where you lost them, but where it's bright.

The second step is to exploit the constraint. If your business lacks customers, it'd be a crime to waste leads. They'd better have the status of corporate relics.

Step number three: align the entire system's work with the constraint. In a crisis, a CEO makes decisions swiftly, meaning individually. But his resources are finite. All managers have to adjust to him, always be available, and certainly not slow down.

Attention! Three steps have been taken, and much work has been done. But we haven't heard the most common requests: increasing the marketing budget, hiring a personal assistant, buying CRM, and so on.

Usually, companies do the opposite. Managers rush to throw money or people at what seems to be a problem to them. But reality tolerates such nonsense only for a while.

One day all resources are exhausted. Deposits crack open. Banks deny loans. Investors freeze. Shareholders' pockets empty.

The corporate body will face a binary choice: accept the bitter medicine of truth or perish from the sweet poison of illusions.

Before, we didn't want to look for where (and if) the bottleneck was in the bottle. But at the point of desperation, everything is obvious. The main constraint is us.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Deciphering Chaos / April 4, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Jose Saramago, the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese writer, once said, "Chaos is order yet undeciphered." Inspiring thought, right?

What seems like a frightening mess to a newcomer feeds and uplifts a professional.

A bright illustration of this is insight. A second before, you're confused, lost, or even desperate. Then bam! Everything falls into place. Instead of mess, there's a pattern. There's a signal instead of noise.

But to decipher the order, you must go through a situation countless times. The first time, everything seems complex and important. By the hundredth time, you conclude, "The main thing is X. Forget the rest."

That's how you build expertise in a particular domain. Either life dips you repeatedly into an experience, or you consciously seek it out time and time again.

Beyond domain expertise, there's meta-level expertise. It's when you recognize a common pattern in very distant fields. To others, your conclusions seem like pure magic.

And if you can extract order from chaos, then turn it into something valuable, you're either an artist or an entrepreneur. Either way, you're a creative person. Congrats!

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Seek Hungry Samurai / April 3, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

In Kurosawa's epic 'Seven Samurai,' lies a valuable insight.

Bandits pledge to snatch all the peasants' harvest when it's ripe. The whole village is in despair. Suddenly, the elder recalls a time when the village survived because hired samurai protected it.

The peasants object: "That was a wealthy village. But besides barley, we got nothing. Samurai are proud folks. Will they take grain instead of cash?"

The elder replies: "Besides food, we got nothing. Find hungry samurai. 'Cause even a bear leaves the woods for hunger."

The difference in their thinking is glaring. Peasants habitually slump into the victim role. The cruel world has banded against them.

Even when a prototype solution is handed to them, they can't grab it. Their minds are shackled with false beliefs: "We're too poor. We got nothing valuable."

But if you dig deeper, you'll see - their self-absorption is getting in the way. They drown in self-pity, unable to see the world outside themselves.

Otherwise, they'd momentarily forget themselves and show genuine interest in the samurai. It'd become clear—they're humans too. In different circumstances. Who also need to eat to live.

The same mistake founders make when they overly focus on their company, its products, technologies, team, and so forth. They mistakenly try to solve the problem of their system from within.

The problem starts resolving itself when the founders and their team shift their focus from themselves to the customers. Or rather, to their problems. New doors swing open before them.

It turns out there's a special category of customers to whom you have something to offer. Your unique alliance will ensure a collective win.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Your Pit Stop / April 2, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

After our bout, a stranger "blue belt" immediately asked me, "What do I need to improve? Where are my weak spots?"

Such questions come from maybe one person in a hundred. Obviously, this guy is going to progress exponentially.

I replied, "You're doing great, but one aspect is lacking. Either you charge ahead like a rhino or slack off like a jellyfish. By the seventh minute of the fight, you're done. Fuel tank's empty."

"You need to learn to rest during the bout," I explained, "Got into a good position? Don't rush to attack. Take a pause for five to ten seconds. It's like turbo-charging your phone."

In business and life, achieving success is hard. But it's equally hard to maintain it. The ideal is to methodically record achievements like the gears in a winch. One step forward, not a step back.

In my practice, I encounter entrepreneurs with a tilt. They gush with cool ideas, launch profitable projects and partnerships. Then they lose it all. It repeats until they burn out.

They suffer from exhaustion in two ways. A myriad of important activities tear their attention apart daily. No time to catch their breath.

But with time, they're also forced to admit the futility of their sacrifices. It's business for the sake of business. Vanity of vanities. For what?

The problem is the unhealthy behavior pattern has been entrenched for years. As soon as they let their guard down, they derail.

So, usually, it's necessary to act systematically:

Recognize the root cause and consequences of the status quo.
Set clear priorities, what's crucial and what's not.
Schedule a ritual akin to "my pit-stop" in your calendar.
Have someone who won't let you lie about progress.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Expanding Space and Time / April 1, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Often, the problem is not the problem, but the ticking clock.

It's tough to brainstorm when the countdown is blaring in your ear: 'Three! Two! One! Game over.'

Your inner world shrinks to the size of a dot. How can a new idea squeeze in there? There's no space left. Not even for you.

But surrendering is foolish. You haven't exhausted all means yet.

Your main task is to carve out a tiny space for yourself.

Imagine in jiu-jitsu your opponent pins you to the ground. What to do? Slip your knee or elbow between your bodies. Now you can brief. Then, use that lever to break free.

Meditation, humor, and therapy work similarly. Negative emotions try to engulf you. Instead, you label them and shift to the observer's position. Voilà! Space emerges between you and them.

Space and time are intimately linked. By expanding space, you gain time to choose your reaction. And with a time buffer, your freedom expands. You can tackle almost anything.

The longer the planning horizon, the easier it is to reach your goal. That's why the best entrepreneurs have a clear vision of their business decades ahead.

Predicting market and societal shifts is impossible. But the more time you have, the easier it is to turn anything to your advantage: bad events, obstacles, or trends.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Evolution of Value and Price / March 31, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

29 years ago, I embarked on my advertising career. Agencies' income stemmed from commissions on media budgets. Nobody purchased our creative and intellectual output; we gave it away for free. My client Ferrero would say, "Just adapt our Italian ad, and that's it."

Oddly enough, clients' desire to save money helped. I discovered the "Cost-plus" method, where agencies reveal the team's salaries, overhead costs, and profit to the client. This approach helped us win a crucial pitch during the 1998 crisis.

We applied this method to all clients. Now, each specialist had a price, hence value. The agency gained stability. Sadly, international clients still saw us merely as executors. Our creative potential hardly interested them.

In 2001, I became CEO and launched a series of experiments. We shifted our focus to local clients. Ironically, their potential didn't interest any major agencies. Except us. That's how the country learned about brands like Fozzi, Selpo, Morshynska, Roshen, Myagkov, and others.

It turned out that the only thing these clients cared about was our ability to skyrocket their sales by launching a vibrant brand. And we excelled at it. Realizing this, I proposed a new pricing method to the most ambitious clients.

"Payment by results" resonated with them. Being entrepreneurs, they were willing to share success. In a short time, local clients became our biggest earners. But beyond the rewards, the work brought us joy, creative fulfillment, market recognition, and most importantly, meaning.

Since then, I've learned even more about various pricing models. This subject fascinates me. If you tangibly solve client problems, sticking to old pricing means leaving value on the table.

Reflecting on this evolution, I draw these conclusions:

The market defines you, but it evolves. Change with it.
There are always those who direly need your contribution.
When you create colossal value together, it's easy to share.
No one will make you rich; you must offer a lucrative deal.
It's only possible if you highly value your craft.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Learning From Nature / March 30, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

In the video, a praying mantis eats a wasp. Meanwhile, another wasp cuts this mantis in half. Ants scurry around.

This video isn't as fascinating as the comments beneath it.

"Imagine being so distracted trying to destroy something you don’t realize your being destroyed...". That's what happens when an entrepreneur ruins his (or her) business, caught up in chasing after a co-founder in public spaces and courts.

"These ants are gonna be the real winners in the end." Suppose a company is torn apart by internal conflicts for a long time. The ultimate beneficiary won't be its owner. Numerous big and small competitors won't leave even bones behind.

One: "Why didn't you help? Instead of filming" Another: "Help whom? The hornet or the mantis?" Humans simply can't view nature without their morality. They deeply pity the rabbit in the fox's jaws. They thirst to intervene... and doom hungry fox cubs to death. Who are you? Almighty God?

Pride is the main obstacle in business. A leader clings to beliefs and forms dear to him, even when the market signals: "I'm more complex. I'm evolving. I'm not what you thought I was."

What's a CEO to do? Act. But beware the temptation of dogma. Recognize the inevitable side effect of your intervention. Most importantly, have a clear answer to the question: "For what?"

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Is There a Meaning to Pain? / March 29, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Many have been convinced that everything in this world is relative. The grand narratives of the past have fragmented into micro-stories on TikTok. People have lost their bearings. Postmodernist Derrida declared, "There is nothing outside the text."

The only thing no one will deny is pain. Regardless of age, gender, race, personality type, education, or political beliefs, pain is real for absolutely everyone. In Buddhism, there's a broader concept—"dukkha." It translates to "suffering" or "restless dissatisfaction." Even pleasure is painful because it differs from expectations, fleeting, and painfully desired to repeat.

Ignoring one's suffering is only possible for a while. Even after years, a person eventually explodes: "Enough! I can't bear this anymore! I'll do something, anything."

Pain is the most reliable catalyst for change.

What would happen if a person is artificially deprived of suffering? For instance, distracting him, pumping him with painkillers, or rendering him numb. It may seem like an act of love and sympathy. But the person becomes a zombie, an automaton, a puppet. He's not living.

No current flows when there is no potential difference between the cathode and the anode.

A person must mature on his own to change his life for the better. During this process, he (or she) will suffer until reaching a breaking point. But afterward, growth will be exponential.

Do you believe the conditions for change differ for an organization?

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Small Predator Won't Pass / March 28, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

When you think about self-protection, what comes to mind?

Maybe steel doors, alarms, weapons, and bodyguards. Your imagination paints a picture of sinister crime scenes, then tries to protect you from it.

Statistically, however, a different scenario is more likely. Figuratively speaking, you're more likely to encounter a hyena or a spider than a lion or a leopard.

Realistically, there aren't many dangerous predators, and they're choosy about their prey. I hope you're not cruising in an emerald Bentley, showering clubs with cash. If so, in terms of ROI, you're not an appealing target for a villain.

It's the small predators that are the real concern. They're everywhere. Their human counterparts? Con artists, thieves, thugs, charlatans, lunatics, and so on.

They won't take your life, but they can mess up your health, empty your bank account, or ruin your mood for a week. What's frustrating is not just the damage they cause, but their frequency and sudden onset.

Luckily, there's a simple solution. You need a tiny barrier. Not even a wall, ditch, or fence. A small predator can overcome it but won't bother. There are plenty of careless people around after all.

The barrier is direct eye contact, squared shoulders, and a confident stride in the city. Dummy security cameras in public places. A janitor in the lobby. A barking dog in your flat.

A symbolic barrier costs pennies. But in the long run, it saves you a lot. By the way, does your company have such a 'barrier'? And what is that?

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Who's Getting in My Way? / March 27, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

The core struggles of individuals, groups, and companies are alike.

It's tempting to blame the competition or fate. But in 99 out of 100 cases, the subjects restrain themselves. Consciously, no one does this. Everything seems to happen by chance.

Remember that popular game? "The city sleeps. The mafia awakens." For law-abiding citizens, it's inconceivable to admit that the mafia are themselves. The flattering image they've long crafted collapses. It feels like one is left with nothing.

A division of power is evident. By day, citizens toil, but when consciousness sleeps, criminality conducts its dark affairs. In the morning, consciousness is shocked by the disorder: "Who's hindering our life?"

The first step is to take responsibility. Entertain the thought that all coincidences aren't coincidental. Refuse to seek the oppressor around. Recognize organized crime within yourself.

Then comes the intriguing part. It's crucial to understand why it was created. You'll notice a resemblance to "Merry Men", a group of outlaws. The intentions of Robin Hood are inherently noble.

Realizing the conflict's cause and the intentions of all sides, you can act as a mediator between them. When the heat of internal struggle subsides, you unleash enormous energy for creativity and life.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Passion vs. Consistency / March 26, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

When asked about the secret to his success, UFC founder Dana White said: "Passion and consistency.

Essentially, this means:

light and darkness.
chaos and order.
sun and moon.
Yin and Yang.

Remove one element from the equation, and nothing will work. The fate of lonely consistency is merely treading water. And left to its own devices, passion will lose as much as it creates.

For better or worse, few entrepreneurs harmoniously embody these polar qualities. In the realm of business therapy, it's common to observe clients limping to one side.

It seems like the obvious solution would be to find someone who balances your deficiency with their surplus. Successful businesses would skyrocket if not for one "but."

Passionate individuals are generally not fans of consistency. Moreover, they consider possessors of this quality as unhelpful, primitive, and dreadfully boring.

Conversely, those inclined towards consistency often associate passion with hysterical frenzy, chaos, and an unsystematic approach. All this unsettles and even scares them. They disdainfully mutter, "Nonsense."

You see, their conflict is just one step away. That's how it goes in business all the time. Even if co-founders managed to tolerate each other for several years. Now it's arguments, lawsuits, etc.

Don't want such a scenario? Work on yourself. Here's a hint - learn to appreciate the "repulsive" quality. After all, it's within you too.

You keep it confined like a captive slave. It's time to set yourself free.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

The Transformative Spirit / March 25, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Prosperity is simple if two conditions are met:

Become invulnerable.
Embrace Chaos.

Really?

If you're fragile and vulnerable, even the slightest volatility can be fatal. What development is there if your only concern is to survive until dawn?

But suppose your world resembles a museum—orderly and static. In such a scenario, invincibility serves no purpose. There's no risk, but there's also no upside.

As your invulnerability grows, chaos shifts from foe to ally.

After all, any encounter with uncertainty has three scenarios:

Everything is much worse than we expected — it's a disaster.
There's nothing important — you can ignore it.
Like Aladdin, you gain access to the robbers' treasure trove.

Prosperity is inevitable when you make scenario #1 unlikely.

So, what's the catch? Carl Jung noticed: "Simple things are always the most complex." Invincibility is a significant personal endeavor.

It's not so much about physical strength or weaponry. Nor is it solely about the speed of decision-making or the adaptability of your paradigms.

It's about what's invisible yet most valuable. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38).

The spiritual vector indicates what to strive for. It's within our power to enhance our invincibility each day. Then almost everything will turn out to be good.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stability Through Tension / March 24, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Healthy tension is key for the System to develop in a stable manner.

Let's dive into some diverse examples.

To swiftly navigate through many obstacles, the rider simultaneously presses the clutch, accelerator, and brake. In the stretch between polar forces, the system gains maneuverability and stability.

In jiu-jitsu, it's crucial to limit your opponent's degrees of freedom. He pulls, you resist. He pushes, you push back. Out of two opposing forces emerges a "rigid" system, one you control.

When a board of directors is first formed, many things seem vital. Yet, the paramount goal is improving judgement. How? The board needs someone to challenge the founder-CEO.

As we see, the aim is to always create the right tension in the string, preventing it from slackness or overload.

Mastering this is half science, half art. Primarily because the environment shifts. You must adjust the tension of the bowstring when it rains or the sun blazes.

The fundamental premise is finding value and purpose in system tension. Only then are you willing to pay the price of effort and discomfort.

A Japanese proverb hints: "A carp swimming against the current may become a dragon."

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Garden of Love / March 23, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

Everyone knows the quote: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

The problem is, people rarely love themselves.

We're not talking about treating yourself to ice cream. We're talking about knowing deep down that your existence in this world is wanted, necessary, and precious.

A lack of self-love breeds irritation, envy, and anger. After all, one can only be generous to others from abundance.

If the above resonates, then you have the seeds of love within you. Long ago, someone planted them in the fertile soil of your soul.

If this role was fulfilled by a parent, let alone both, consider yourself hitting the jackpot. Given the dynamics of divorces, this is rare.

Perhaps only your grandmother and/or grandfather truly loved you. Maybe you were born in a terrarium, but a sports coach truly cared about you. Or an English teacher. Or even a stranger.

Such an experience a person can never forget. One day, the seeds will sprout. Now, you must uproot the stumps, cut the weeds, protect from pests, water, and so on.

There's a huge task ahead, but it will bear rich fruits. Where there was once wild forest or desert, an apple orchard or a Japanese garden 日本庭園 will spread.

As you harvest the fruits of love, you'll want to share them with your neighbor. Starting with your wife/husband and children. The circle will expand. Despite all the evil in the world, you have a source of love that no one will take away.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Theory and Practice of Constraints / March 22, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

In the Theory of Constraints, there are five focusing steps.

Step one — identify the constraint. Without this, all other measures will bring weak or harmful effects. This is where people, companies, and states squander their basic resources.

Let's name just a few reasons:

1. Impatience. People rush to shoot the arrow instead of taking a second to precisely aim. Why? They aren't used to enduring discomfort. Hence: "We must do at least something asap!"

2. Lack of purpose. Not everyone understands why they should bother. Working on the constraint allows you to get rid of unbearable pain in the future at the cost of bearable pain now. As the Sicilian mafia saying goes, "It's worth trying to get rid of the pebble in the boot."

3. Lack of skills. Even if there's patience and purpose, experience and skill are still needed. The system's constraint cleverly hides in the lush bushes of symptoms. The latter seem important, tempting one to get distracted by trimming them down.

4. Irresponsibility. The constraint is hard to find because people look for it where it isn't, i.e., outside themselves. Circumstances, history, other people, etc., are to blame. One must entertain the thought: "I've put myself in this position."

5. Immateriality. It almost always turns out that it's not about a shortage of capital, people, or tools. The true constraints are false beliefs, i.e., the belief in things that don't actually exist.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Who Keeps the Company Alive? / March 21, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

If you want to grasp the entrepreneur's essence, write an article. Not just any, but one you'll want to reread years later.

It's clear from the start: the main toil is finding the idea.

Editing, error-checking, and publishing demand effort too. Even significant effort, but at least it's clear. And the outcome relies entirely on you.

Yet, in the hunt for an idea, everything's foggy. No one knows where ideas dwell, to whom they come, when, or why.

I remember our marathon brainstorming sessions in the ad business. Complete team despair—deadline looming, and no Big Idea. A creative steps out for a moment. Returns astonished: "Guys, while I was washing my hands, it hit me...". Voilà! We're saved.

Companies make a mistake when the Editing function suppresses the Search for new ideas.

For instance, when a business model runs smoothly and for long. A critical mass of managers forms, convinced that such stability is forever. Novelty seems unnecessary to them.

Then, an environmental cataclysm strikes. War, Covid, or an economic crisis. The company's problem isn't that its business model is breaking. The tragedy is the wellspring of "living water" has long dried up. Breakthrough ideas are nowhere to be found.

At that moment, the business's only hope is the founder. The one who once found the Big Idea can rediscover it. At this moment, everyone remembers who breathes life into the corporate body.

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Decoding the Expert / March 20, 2024 by Alexander Lyadov

How to tell if you're dealing with an expert or not?

You ask a question and listen to their response. If you find yourself thinking, 'Wow, that's so smart!' but end up feeling more confused, then you're likely dealing with an archivist, a memory stick.

His (or her) mind shelves are bursting with books on the subject. Potentially, everything's in there. But alas, there's no one to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Conversing with an expert is different. You're astonished: "Wow! Is it that simple? Can't be." From a vast medical reference book, he extracts one likely diagnosis, not twenty-five.

For the former, the value is the knowledge itself; for the latter, it's what that knowledge helps to accomplish.

Accomplish for whom? The client. That's why expertise is always aimed at solving someone's specific problems. Because only humans have those.

So, an expert is someone who can see and hear you. Otherwise, you're facing a "database." It's not tragic. In that case, you must extract expertise from the database yourself.

For example, an investment fund manager I know told the legal team, "Don't write a dissertation. Identify the three biggest risks of this decision. Just three."

Sincerely yours,

-Alexander

About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.